The Anti-Hike

I figured this weekend was my big chance to see fall foliage at its peak.  Initially the weather was supposed to be nice Saturday.  (Really!)  And so even when my friends started directing my attention to the weather report, I pooh-poohed it.  But at 4 a.m. Saturday I checked one last time and despaired.  After dawn, I would have almost two hours of clouds at near-freezing temperatures before the rain started.   And the high would be nearly 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  The winds would steadily increase all day leading up to a big snow storm at 4 pm.  Let's face it, I'm not a hard-core hiker; this was too much for me.  

So I stayed in the city.  I worked out for an hour in the gym, interval setting on the treadmill, while watching the end of a free teaser for Lost (a TV show I've never seen), followed by the start of the pilot for Grimm (which I'd purchased on iTunes, since for some inexplicable reason the iPad does not let you watch TV episodes for free on hulu).    I did a few bits of chores, skived off the service projects I'd been thinking about joining, and then ventured out to Union Square to buy my first ever Vibram Five Fingers shoes.  The guy at Paragon Sports was super-nice and very helpful.  He owns two pairs of the toe shoes so far.  

The weather in NYC was kind of icky, alternating between mere clouds, rain, sleet, and wet snow.  Your basic wintry mix.  But I loved this view of Union Square from the north side; it looks like the city is rising out of the jungle:

Somewhat less cool to me - but probably of greater interest to Warhol fans - is this view, in which the statue of Andy Warhol overlooks the fog:

(Incidentally, I think the statue has been up for more than 15 minutes.  Isn't it time to take it down?)

Throughout the day, I tried to capture images of our pre-Halloween snowfall.  This one, from the south side of Union Square, is my favorite:

I also discovered that Whole Foods sells organic popcorn in bulk.   This is wonderful news, because I've been having some trouble finding non-microwave popcorn.

Meanwhile, further downtown (on Broad Street & Wall Street), there was filming for "Magnus Rex" a/k/a Dark Knight Rising.  Most of what I could see was Gotham Police Department vehicles, lined up and down the streets with their lights flashing:

Sunday was beautiful, but I am glad I stuck to my original plan and stayed in town for a talk on biblical translations (in honor of  400th anniversary of the King James bible) and - more importantly - the installation of the Rev. Kate Dunn as associate pastor in charge of pastoral care and outreach at my church.  It was a lovely service, with some very moving elements involving her family and her childhood pastor.  So cool.  Congratulations Kate!